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Edward Hammond Hargraves

Edward Hammond Hargraves was born on 7 October 1816. He was a gold explorer who claimed to found gold in Australian 1851. Hargraves was born to Lieutenant John Edward Hargraves and Elizabeth Hargraves. He was the third son in his family. He did his schooling in England at Brighton Grammar School and rest of his education in Lewes. He went during the California Gold Rush in California but this search was unsuccessful. On 1851, he with friend John Lister found five tiny spot of gold in Lewis Ponds Creek.To join the help of others in search, he returned to Sydney to interview the Colonial Secretary, by encouragement of his friends he wrote to the Sydney morning herald newspaper at Bathurst describing the rich field

Hargraves was honored by the New South Wales Government for his deliberate search. He was appointed as a Commissioner for crown lands with a salary of �10 000. He also by Victorian Government paid with �5 000. Hargraves only claimed �2 381after the protest from James Tom. In 1853, an enquiry confirm that Hargraves was the first person to discover a gold field.

He acquired a 640-acre landing a Budgewoi on the Central Coast of New South Wales in 1856. Edward Hargraves went to built property called ”Norahville" at Noraville and on that property the known Aboriginal Tribe members of Wollombi have worked on that. Sources state that he had befriended the Aboriginal tribe members. He was granted pension of 250 per year by Government in 1877 until his death. He died in Sydney in 29 October 1891.After his death, a second investigation found that James Tom and John Lister in a search found the first goldfield in 1891.

In 1855, he published book about his discovery titled “Australia and its Goldfields: a historical sketch of the Australian colonies from the earliest times to the present day with a particular account of the recent gold discoveries”.